ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF COMMUNAUTE ECONOMIQUE WEST AFRICAN STATES DES ETATS DE L'AFRIQUE ^ DE L'OUEST WENTY SIXTH SESSION OF THE AUTHORITY OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT Dakar, 31 January 2003 Final Communique • J/v^ u'\ Final Communique of the 26m Session of the Authority Page 1 1. The twenty sixth ordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), washeid in Dakar on 31 January 2003. underthe Chairmanship of His Excellency Maitre Abdoulave Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, and current Chairman of ECOWAS. 2. The following Heads of State and Government or their duly accredited representatives were present at the session: His Excellency Mathieu Kerekou President of the Republic of Benin His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor President of the Republic of Ghana His Excellency Koumba Yaila President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau His Excellency Charles Gankay Iayior President of the Republic of Liberia His Excellency Amadou Toumani Toure President of the Republic of Mali His Excellency Mamadou Tandja President of the Republic of Niger His Excellency Olusegun Obasanic President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade President of the Republic of Senegal His Excellency General Gnassingbe Eyadem; President of the Togolese Republic Y-\er Excellency, isatou Njie-Saidy Vice-President of the Republic a The Gambia Representing the President of the Republic His Excellency Ernest Paramanga Yonli Prime Minister . \ Representing the President of Faso \ Final Communique ofthe 26m Session of the Authority Paae 2 His Excellency Lamine Sidime Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea Representing the President of the Republic Mrs Fatima Veiga Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Representing the President of Cabo Verde Mr. Leon Emmanuel Monnet Minister of Mines and Energy Representing the President of the Republic of Cote d'lvoire Mr. Momodou Koroma Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Representing the President of the Republic of Sierra Leone 3. The following eminent persons were also present at the twenty sixth session as observers: the Representative-of the United Nations Secretary General .:-,:,.- the Deputy Secretary General. Special representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict the Representative of the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity, Interim President of the African Union Commission (OAU/African Union) the Secretary General of the CEN-SAD the Secretary General of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) the President of the UEMOA (West African Monetary and Economic Union) Commission the President of the Committee of Governors of West African Central Banks, Governor of the Central Sank of Sierra Leone the Representative of the African Development Bank (ADB) the Representative of the European Union \ the Executive President ofthe African Business Round Table (ABR) Final Communique of the 26m Session of the Authority ^^ 4. Alist of participants is attached to this report. OPENING CEREMONY The opening address was delivered by His Excellency Maitre Abdoulaye Wade President or the Republic of Senegal, and current Chairman of ECOWAS and UEMOA. Aresponse was made by His Excellency Olusegun Obassanjo President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on behalf of the other Heads of State and Government. The Authority decided that these addresses should be retained as working documents. The Heads of State and Government reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening regional peace and security, and to make ECOWAS a powerful medium for the promotion of integration and the development of the economies of the West African economies within the framework of NEPAD. Messages of support and encouragement were addressed to the 26,n summit of Heads of State and Government by the Deputy Secretary General Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict. Messages were also received from the Representative of the United Nations Secretary General, the Representative of the OAU and interim President of the African Union Commission. ACCELERATING THE REGIONAL INTEGRATION PROCESS ECOWAS Programmes The Authority adopted the reports of the Executive Secretary, the 6th extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers, the 49th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers, the ad hoc Ministerial Committee on the Enhancement of the Resources ofthe ECOWAS Fund, and the meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The thrust of these reports may be listed as follows: creation of the ECOWAS Common Market creation ofthe single monetary zone trade negotiations with the European Union within the framework of the EPAs creation ofa West African represerriatiu. iwin n'n the framework ofits dialogue with the European Union sectoral production programmes and infrastructure Final Communique of the 26m Session ofthe Authority Page 4 - human development programmes administrative and financial matters enhancement of the financial resources of the ECOWAS Fund regional peace and security. During the deliberations of the Authority the focus of attention was on economic and institutional matters, peace and security. ECONOMIC MATTERS Implementation of NEPAD The Heads of State and Government reaffirmed their commitment to the objectives, orientations and priorities of NEPAD. which is the most appropriate instrument for the integration and development of the economies of the African continent, and for the release of the African peoples from the grip of poverty. The Authority decided to take appropriate measures to enable the West African sub-region to derive the utmost benefit from the NEPAD continental initiative. Referring to the Declaration and Plan of Action for NEPAD implementation in West Africa which were adopted at the extraordinary meeting of the Authority in Yamoussoukro on 17 May 2002. when ECOWAS was designated the coordinator and monitoring agency for the implementation of NEPAD programmes in West Africa, the Authority called on the Executive Secretariat and the Member States to take appropriate action to ensure the creation of NEPAD focal points in all the Member States. The Authority thanked its development partners for their assistance to the Executive Secretariat in setting up theregional NEPAD implementation unit atthe offices ofthe Secretariat, and rendering it functional. The Authority expressed satisfaction at the fact that NEPAD has been well received by the G3. It appealed to the members of the G8 group to make good on the promises made at their summits in Genoa in 2001, and Kananaskis in 2002. The Mcnetcry Cooperation Programme In addressing the issue of a single ECOWAS monetary zone, the Authority reaffirmed the relevance of the initiative taken by the ECOWAS Member States Final Communique of the 26m Session of the Authority Paqe 5 outside the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) to create a second monetary zone as part of the fast-track approach to the creation of a single ECOWAS monetary zone. The Heads of State and Government commended the determination of the countries of the second monetary zone to create their own common currency. However, the Authority took note ofthe progress report on the macroeconomic convergenceprogramme which revealsthat theachievement ofa monetary union by 2004 is not possible in view of the macroeconomic and political instability of some ofthe countries. The Authority also emphasised the fact that the decision of the summit of Heads of State of the second monetary zone held in Conakry on 6 November 2002, to defer the launch date for their monetary zone till 2005. makes it impossible to meet the 2004 deadline for the realisation of the single currency. Consequently, theAuthority decided to push the launching of the single monetary zone beyond the target date of 2004. It was decided tnat a firm date'will be fixed at the meeting of the Authority in 2005. after a detailed appraisal of the performance of the countries of the second monetary zone, and the level of convergence of the economies of the sub-region as a whole. The Heads of State and Government emphasises the need to enhance the convergence of the macroeconomic policies and performances of the Member States in order to build up the credibility of the proposed ECOWAS single currency zone. In this regard, they called on all Member States to redouble their efforts to meetthe macroeconomic convergence criteria, guided by the principles of good governance, through public finance reforms and the introduction of the appropriate structural reforms needed forthe expansion oftheir production base. The ECOWAS Common Market The Authority expressed its satisfaction at the harmonisation of the trade liberalisation schemes of ECOWAS and UEMOA. as attested to by the adoption of common rules of origin, the new certificate of origin, and new approval and compensation procedure for loss of Customs revenue. This opens up new perspectives for the creation of a single regional market in West Africa. The HeadsofStateand Government called on the ECOWAS Executive Secretary and the President of the UEMOA Commission to build ucon the cooperation'thus initiated. The Authority strongly urged the Member States to take concrete measures towards the creation of the single regional market in West Africa, through the implementation ofthe ECOWAS trade liberalisation scheme, and the alignment of the national customs tariffs with the UEMOA tariff, which